


What To Do With A Stray Cat: A Panthera Noire/What To Do Crossover

by Ronoken



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alix is insane, Complicated Relationships, Crossover, F/F, Gen, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Plagg Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug), Plagg is a Little Shit (Miraculous Ladybug), Tikki Is So Done (Miraculous Ladybug), relationships are hard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:01:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27362416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronoken/pseuds/Ronoken
Summary: “Once this is over, see if your lucky charm will give you some duct tape,” Panthera Noire called out.“What for?” Ladybug asked as she flipped out of the way of a blast. The tree that was hit disappeared in a flash of light.“I’m gonna duct tape Chloé to the fucking ceiling!” Panthera yelled. She ducked a blast that made a shrub vanish.“Panthera, no!” Ladybug said.“Panthera, yes!” Panthera countered.***A Ladybug crossover event! For, like the dozen or so readers that actually read both of us.When Panthera Noire is accidentally blasted out of her reality and into the one next door, she swaps places with, well, herself. And it just so happens that it's on a day when her other self has been recruited to be a hero. Will Dame de Sang be able to help save the day?See Panthera in action! See Dame de Sang kick some ass! Feel the awkward romantic tension between most of the main cast of this story! And yes folks, there's a giant monster! And akumas! And... And a meteor! And pizza! It's crazy!Written with blessing from SorryJustAnotherPerson, who graciously lent me their Panthera. Links to the source story and Tumblr within.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Ivan Bruel/Mylène Haprèle, Juleka Couffaine & Luka Couffaine, Juleka Couffaine/Rose Lavillant
Comments: 67
Kudos: 83





	1. What To Do When You're In A Shitty Crossover

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SorryJustAnotherPerson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryJustAnotherPerson/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The Adventures of Panthera Noire](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23318689) by [SorryJustAnotherPerson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryJustAnotherPerson/pseuds/SorryJustAnotherPerson). 
  * Inspired by [What To Do When Your Superhero Is Having A Baby](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26584903) by [Ronoken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ronoken/pseuds/Ronoken). 



> Hi.
> 
> This story was written with the blessing of SorryJustAnotherPerson. Their story, the Adventures of Panthera Noire, can be found here:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/23318689/chapters/55856236
> 
> It's really, really good. So good that I scrapped a similar idea for my What To Do series and out of respect, retooled said idea to be Dame de Sang instead. It was a fun story about fighting a chemistry teacher using the power of love. The arc that she appears in can be found starting here:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/26584903/chapters/65625820 
> 
> I felt bad about the comparison, but when I brought it up to SorryJustAnotherPerson, they were not only okay with it, they encouraged me to borrow.
> 
> So, I did.
> 
> They encouraged me via Tumblr. Have you tried Tumblr? They have a wonderful Tumblr, filled with stuff. You can find the link here:
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/justanotherpersonsuniverse
> 
> I don't normally do this, as it can lead to issues, however I've tried to keep things balanced as best I could between the stories. So, for our mutual readers, here is what happens when two characters switch places. It's... Yeah, it's a cheap plot device, but roll with me here. I at least have the whole thing done and a resolution. That, like, beats out 97% of the fics on this site.
> 
> Enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are gonna get real, yo.

So, Juleka was a big girl. As such, she was able to admit when she was getting her ass kicked.

“Die, hero scum!” The akuma, a short, red, green, and orange striped woman named Dimensia, was shooting multi-colored beams at both her and Ladybug as they battled it out in the courtyard of François Dupont. She looked like a tiny technicolor Medusa, as her hair was moving back and forth like snakes made of fiber optic cables. It was changing colors in waves as it moved.

“Once this is over, see if your lucky charm will give you some duct tape,” Panthera Noire called out.

“What for?” Ladybug asked as she flipped out of the way of a blast. The tree that was hit disappeared in a flash of light.

“I’m gonna duct tape Chloé to the fucking ceiling!” Panthera yelled. She ducked a blast that made a shrub vanish.

“Panthera, no!” Ladybug said.

“Panthera, _yes!_ ” Panthera countered. “Seriously! This whole thing is her fault! Look, I’m not greedy. You can help! Hell, I’ll let you do her mouth!”

Ladybug paused. “How did you know that? About Chloé?”

Panthera froze as she realized her slip. “Um, erm, well… Hey, look! The akuma made Adrien’s clothes disappear?”

Ladybug’s head whipped around to look.

 _‘Oh, thank God_ ,’ Juleka thought. ‘ _Emergency Plan Naked Adrien worked.’_

Juleka’s smile vanished as she realized Dimensia was also taking advantage of the distraction. She had her sights set on Ladybug.

“Well now!” Dimensia cried out as she lunged forward and caught Ladybug by the throat.

“Panthera!” Ladybug screamed. She tried to pry herself free, but the akuma’s grip was like iron. “Get… Get her…”

“Nope!” Dimensia said. She pointed at a support column for the school and fired a blast. It disappeared in a flash of light.

Panthera charged and put her staff where the column had been. The kids looking over the balcony above cried out in terror.

“Save the kids!” Ladybug cried.

Panthera watched as Dimensia slammed Ladybug against a pillar. “Give me your miraculous!” She growled.

“Never!” Ladybug said.

Dimensia slapped her. Hard.

The smack could be heard across the courtyard. Panthera’s stomach turned as she remembered how strong an akuma could get.

“Give it to me!” Dimensia said again.

She slapped Ladybug again, this time backhanded.

“I’m coming!” Panthera said, still holding up the balcony. “Hold on!”

“Save the kids, first!” Ladybug yelled. She punched and clawed at Dimensia, who proceeded to hit her again. And again. And again.

Panthera looked up at the balcony and roared, “MOVE YOUR ASSES!”

The kids on the balcony snapped out of their fear paralysis and started running. Panthera waited until they were all gone before she let the balcony fall. She didn’t waste a second as she charged for the akuma and her partner, whose face was now a purple mess.

Dimensia threw Ladybug against a wall and took aim.

“Bye bye, little nuisance,” the akuma sneered.

“Partner!” Juleka screamed.

She dove in front of the blast.

***

Let’s back up a bit.

So, from what both girls could gather, the source of all this drama was, as per usual, Chloé.

Chloé had been bullying Mylène throughout the morning. Again. This time, as per the akuma’s special abilities and appearance, it was about her hair.

“Seriously, you look like you haven’t washed that in months,” Chloé said with a sneer. They were on transition, and Ms. Bustier had ducked back to her office for some copies, a quick refill on her cocoa, and to answer a text. Apparently, her date for the evening was having second thoughts, but of course, this was only after she had made reservations at LaDonna’s.

Some things are a constant no matter the dimension.

“Stop it, Chloé!” Marinette snapped.

“Not cool, dude,” Nino agreed.

“Seriously, Chloé.” Adrien said. He put a hand on her shoulder. “This is a bit far, don’t you think?”

“Hey, back off, Chloé.” Ivan stood up for Mylène, as in physically stood up in class, and positioned himself between Mylène and the blonde. “There’s nothing wrong with her hair. I think it looks really nice.”

Mylène looked up at him and blushed. “Ivan,” she murmured.

“Please,” Chloé scoffed. “She looks like a rat curled up and died right on her head.” Chloé leaned to the side to make eye contact with Mylène. “If I looked like you? I’d wish for the ground to open up and swallow me whole. I’d wish to get sucked into another dimension. One where your head looks good if it’s covered in garbage.”

“That’s enough,” Ivan growled. He took a step forward and glared down at Chloé. “You’re not gonna bully her anymore.”

Chloé glanced up at him. “Or what?”

“I don’t like being mean,” Ivan said. “But I’m not gonna let you do this.”

Chloé finally registered the look on Ivan’s face. She also noticed his proximity, and that he was very, very big. “Oh, um, well. Fine. Whatever.” She shooed him away. “Just go back to your seat with your little girlfriend. I don’t need Ms. Bustier getting on me when she comes in. Honestly, you’re both ridiculous!”

Ivan turned to comfort Mylène, but she was already gone.

“Mylène?” Ivan called. He saw the door to the classroom closing.

“Shit,” Marinette and Juleka both swore under their breaths.

Marinette immediately slipped out to try to catch Mylène, and failing that, to head to the restroom for a quick change.

Juleka watched her go and counted to ten before she moved to stand up. She stopped when a hand gently fell on her own.

“Hey,” Rose asked. “You okay, Jules?”

Juleka looked down at Rose and turned beet red from the physical contact. “Pretty. Um, I mean, Pretty good. I’m pretty good. Um, how are you?”

Rose squeezed her hand and looked at her with concern in her eyes. “You’ve got that look again. The one you get whenever…” Rose glanced to the door. “Whenever things happen.”

“No, I don’t,” Juleka said, still red. “Um, I just have to, um, I have to go. That’s all.” She offered a nervous grin. “Be right back?”

Rose smiled at her, but her eyes were still laced with worry. “Please come back soon.” She squeezed Juleka’s hand again before letting her go. She watched as Juleka bolted out of the room.

“Huh,” Alix said. “I swear, every time Marinette takes off, Juleka follows right after. I wonder what those two are up to?”

"Those two?" Rose asked. "What do... You..."

Rose stared at the door as Alix’s comments washed over her.

She thought of all the times they had disappeared together.

She thought of how supportive Juleka was towards Marinette as of late.

She thought about how red Juleka was just now.

Rose’s eyes went wide.

 _‘Oh,_ ’ she thought.

She stared at the door and then at Marinette’s seat.

_‘That…’_

Rose frowned.

_‘That BITCH.’_

***

I think we’re caught up, now.

Juleka screamed as the beam hit her square in the chest. She blinked, and there was a flash of light. Of _all_ the lights, to be more accurate. She found herself being flung through a multicolored, weightless void.

“I’m gonna be sick,” Panthera said as she tumbled through null space. She yelped as something red flew by her at high speed, but then forgot about it as she saw that she was tumbling towards a bright white oval.

“SHIIIIIIIIIIII…!” Was all she got out before falling through and landing… On the roof of the school?

Panthera sat up, dazed. She looked around to confirm that yes, she was on the roof. There was the picnic table, the utility door, someone who looked like Rose dressed as a dominatrix, some pigeons…

Wait.

Back up.

What were pigeons doing there?!

Okay, okay, you’re right. That’s not what got her attention.

“Who…” Juleka asked. Her head was groggy, but she was quickly coming to. In front of her was a platinum blonde girl about Rose’s height, wearing tall black boots, an extremely scandalous leather one-piece that was zipped slightly too low, shiny gloves, and who looked... Um... Hot.

“Oh snap,” Juleka whispered. She felt something running out her nose. She wiped at it to see that it was blood.

“GAAAH!” The other cat girl cried out. She grabbed her staff and twirled it into a defensive position. “Who are you? What did you do with Ju… I mean, with Dame de Sang?”

Juleka blinked. “Dame de Sang? That’s… Damn. That’s a badass name.” She got to her feet and dusted herself off.

“Answer me, stranger!” The cat girl yelled. “So help me, if you’ve hurt her, I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

“Woah!” Juleka put her hands up in front of her. “Calm down, kitty cat. I didn’t do anything to anyone. I just…” She looked around. “Okay, honestly? I’m not sure what just happened.”

“Explain,” the cat girl growled.

Juleka shrugged. “I mean, one minute, I was fighting an akuma with Ladybug, and the next, I got hit with this strange light and, well, yeah. That’s about all I remember.”

“Ladybug?” The cat girl asked, confused. She lowered her staff and looked at the newcomer. “You… You look like a punk Chat Noir.”

Juleka blinked. “And you look like a dominatrix cat woman.” She frantically looked towards the door. “Partner! I have to go! I need to help with the akuma!”

“Like, the chemistry teacher?” The cat girl asked. “Um, we already defeated her.”

“No, I meant Mylène!” Juleka half yelled. “She was slapping the crap out of my partner, and not in the fun way!”

The cat girl blushed and hugged herself. “You said it before I could.”

“Ugh!” Juleka said. She started running for the courtyard. The cat girl followed as Panthera leapt over the rooftop and landed in the middle of the yard, only to see a nice, ordinary, if not boring, landscape job.

“Where did they go?” Juleka asked, confused.

“More to the point, where’s my Ladybug?” The cat girl asked as she looked at Panthera.

Juleka looked back to her. “So, okay. I think…" She looked over at the cat girl again. "I’ve read enough comics to figure out what’s probably happened, but first, tell me what you saw.”

“Well,” the cat girl said, thinking about it. “We had just defeated Romantica and we were, um, celebrating together," The cat girl coughed a little. "When she was ripped out of my arms and into a portal. A second later, you showed up.”

Juleka eyed her. “Celebrating?”

The cat girl blushed and unconsciously zipped the front of her outfit up a smidge.

Juleka shook her head. “Never mind. Okay, so we were fighting someone called Dimensia. Everything she shot was disappearing.”

Rose nodded. “Okay. Well, let me think.” She thought back to the questions Queen Bee and Marinette had asked during the fight with Romantica. “What caused the akumatization? Did you see?”

“Oh yeah,” Juleka said. “Chloé was being a total bitch to Mylène about her hair. She even told her she’d be better off if she fell into… Another… DimensionnnnssSHIT!” She looked to the cat girl. “This isn’t my dimension.”

“Huh,” the cat girl said. “Honestly, I know I should be freaking out more, but that's not the weirdest thing that's happened here today. So, why did Dame de Sang get yanked away? And how do I get her back?”

Juleka shrugged. “I dunno. Maybe, maybe we traded places?”

The cat girl blinked. “But why would you…” She looked at Panthera Noire closely. She saw the hair, the look on her face. She saw the curve of her jaw.

Rose stared at Panthera in shock. She whispered, “Jules?”

Panthera looked to her. “Um… Beg pardon?”

The cat girl put her hands to her mouth. “OHMYGOD. Okay. Okay, I think… Okay. Plagg, claws in.”

There was a flash of green light. Panthera almost fell over at the sight of a slightly older Rose staring at her in concern.

“Holy shit,” Juleka said. “Um, yeah. Okay. I guess we're doing this? Um, wow. Plagg, claws in.”

A flash of light later, and Juleka was standing across from her.

“Oh Jules,” Rose said, tearing up. She stumbled forward and embraced the surprised goth. “You’re, um, shorter? Like, you’re still tall, but not as tall?”

“Hey,” Juleka said, “You, um, you okay?” She did her best attempt at hugging her back without overloading her senses.

“It’s you,” Rose said, holding her close. “It even smells like you!” She pulled back slightly.

“Hey,” Juleka said, slightly embarrassed. _‘She’s so close oh my God she feels nice what is happening?’_ Juleka thought, her brain spiraling into a gay panic. “So, we should probably talk to someone who…”

She was cut off by Rose cupping her face and kissing her.

‘ _ASDLFJHSFHASFLLHASFLHSD!’_ Jukela thought.

“WOAH!” Juleka said, her face purple. She gently pushed Rose away. “Um, wait a second! I, um, woah. Wow.”

Rose blinked in confusion. “Sorry? I… Oh Gosh, you’re, I guess… Sorry, that wasn't fair, was it? I just got caught up. Are we not together in your, um, world?”

Juleka, still beet red, shook her head. “Um, no? I mean, Not that I, um, I wouldn’t mind, but uh, no.” She hugged herself. “I don’t think you’re, um, interested. In me. In my world.”

Rose stared at her. “Well, that’s some bullshit,” she said. “You’re awesome! And smart! And you’re hot! Why wouldn’t I be into you?”

Juleka blinked. “Really?”

Rose beamed. “Really.”

As they spoke, the two Plaggs floated to one another.

“Sup,” Plagg said.

“Sup,” the other Plagg greeted back. “So, like, this is familiar. Are you the one that had Selene for a kitten?”

The other Plagg let out a relieved sigh. “1687, baby! Oh, thank God. I was hoping it was you. Okay.” They turned to the two girls. “So, yeah. We’ve been through this before. Couple times, actually.”

“Okay,” Rose said. “Well, how did you fix it?”

Both Plaggs shrugged. “I dunno,” one of them said. “Tikki usually just fixed it for us.”

“Who’s Tikki?” Rose asked, confused.

The Plaggs stared. “Um, Ladybug’s kwami?” One of them said.

Juleka groaned. “Ladybug? As in, the me that was just yeeted out of here?”

“…Shit.” both Plaggs said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was fun. Kinda cheap, but hey, it's free work.
> 
> NEXT TIME!
> 
> SEE! A giant monster attack! And... It's really dumb. Like, I outdid the dumb on this one. I won't judge if you stop reading.
> 
> SEE! Awkward building sexual tension with one Juleka!
> 
> SEE! Awkward misinterpreted signals and romantic shenanigans with the other Juleka!
> 
> Which one is which? YOU CAN INTERCHANGE THEM! THE DESCRIPTION FITS BOTH!
> 
> Be here for all the fighting, romance, and other stuff tomorrow! Same Bug Time…
> 
> PANTHERA: What’s Bug Time?
> 
> DAME DE SANG: This joke doesn’t even fit in this fic! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUC…
> 
> …Same Bug Channel!
> 
> Visit SorryJustAnotherPerson on Tumblr and complain about the job I did to them at: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/view/justanotherpersonsuniverse


	2. I've Had Nightmares About This

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We check in with the older Juleka back in Panthera's world. She's fine. Fine, fine, fine, fine, fine.

So, back in Panthera’s home dimension…

Ladybug cried out as she saw her partner vanish into thin air. Dimensia grinned and turned to the distraught hero. “Well now,” she said as she cracked her knuckles. “One down, one to go. I…”

There was a flash of light.

Dimensia screamed as a red blur slammed into her at high speed. The impact sent Dimensia flying into a wall.

Ladybug blinked in confusion as she was approached by…

“Panthera?” Ladybug asked, confused. The woman in front of her looked like Panthera, but not. She had red leather pants, a coreset, an admittedly rad-looking red and black jacket, and a distinctly Ladybug theme to her whole vibe. She looked like Panthera cosplaying as Ladybug, and it was, um…

Ladybug swallowed.

It was admittedly slightly kinda sorta hot.

“Hey,” the mystery woman said. She offered a hand to Ladybug, who took it. “Good to see you back.”

“What?” Ladybug asked, confused as she was hoisted up. The mystery woman wasn’t directly trying to, but she did manage to pull Ladybug, ah, quite close.

The mystery woman looked her over. “Wait, how can you be here if I'm here? You _are_ Ladybug, right?”

“Yes?” Ladybug said, slightly blushing. The mystery woman was still holding her close. Marinette's brain was starting to go into critical fault mode.

“Okay, yeah. Huh.” The Panthera cosplayer blinked. “Didn’t know there were two Tikkis.”

Ladybug’s eyes went wide. “What did you just say?”

“DIE, YOU PATHETIC LOSERS!” Dimensia screamed. She burst out of the rubble of the wall, her eyes blazing. “I’ll kill both of you with my bare Goddamn hands, and then it’s curtains for Chloé Bourgeois!”

“Damn,” the mystery woman said. “That takes me back.”

Ladybug eyed the newcomer for a moment.

“I’m gonna guess you’re not Panthera?” Ladybug asked as she stepped back. She took out her yoyo and started spinning it.

“No, but that’s admittedly a badass name,” the mystery woman said. She took out her own yoyo. “I’m kind of jealous now. Panthera. Pantherrrrrrra. Nice.” The mystery woman tried out the name, rolling it on her tongue.

“What do I call you?” Ladybug asked.

“Dame de Sang,” Juleka said back.

Ladybug blinked. “Someone’s hardcore.”

“Damn straight. You wish you were me,” Juleka quipped as they both leapt out of the way of a blast. They each went opposite directions and threw their lines at the same time, each catching one of the akumas arms.

“You think this will hold me?” The akuma snarled.

“Well, yeah,” Juleka said as she struggled to hold her line. “That was the point.” She looked to Ladybug. “Any ideas on where the akuma is?”

Ladybug looked Dimensia over. She noticed a barrette in the monster’s hair.

“I think it’s the barrette!” Ladybug cried out. “Chloé was making fun of her hair!”

“Yeah, that tracks,” Dame de Sang said as the akuma yanked both of them into each other. The two girls dodged in midair as best they could, narrowly missing one another as they flew by each other.

As Juleka landed, she looked to Ladybug. “Have you thrown your charm?”

“Not yet?” Ladybug called out. “You?”

Juleka shook her head.

They both threw their yoyos at the same time.

“Lucky charm!” They cried out.

A vial of glitter fell into Juleka’s hands.

A pair of dish gloves fell into Ladybugs.

All three of them stared.

“Huh,” Juleka said. She looked to the akuma. Ladybug did the same.

“I know what to do!” They both cried out.

“I feel good about this! Puzzles aren’t normally my thing,” Juleka said, a smile on her face. She opened the glitter and flung it forward at the akuma’s face. Dimensia covered her eyes and screamed in pain as Juleka rammed into her.

“I’m blind!” The monster roared.

Ladybug joined Juleka a second later and quickly slipped the dish gloves on the akuma’s hands. Just as she did, Dimensia charged up a blast… That did nothing. Her gloves swelled a bit, only to deflate with a tiny poof.

“Ha!” Juleka said as Ladybug reached into Dimensia’s hair and yanked out the barrette. The second she broke it, a purple butterfly came out.

“I got this,” Ladybug said. She quickly caught and purified the akuma.

“Nice,” Juleka said. Together, they tossed their charms in the air. A swarm of ladybugs washed over everything, but when it was done…

…Dame de Sang was still standing there.

“Huh,” Dame said. “Isn’t that supposed to fix everything?”

Ladybug shrugged. “I mean, usually?”

Both girls jumped as their earrings started to beep.

“Um,” Ladybug said, slightly nervous. “I need to get Mylène back to class. Are you, um…”

Juleka bit her lip. “Um, this, wow. I have some obvious questions.” She took a moment to really look at Ladybug. A shorter, younger Ladybug than she was used to.

_‘This… Is not my Marinette. Oh shit. Ooooooh shit. I don’t think this is home.’_

“Okay, uh, riiigght. So, don’t worry about me. I, um, I need a moment to kind of wrap my head around what’s going on. If I, um…”

Their earrings beeped again.

Dame was shaking a little, but she kept her composure. “Look. I, um, get you may have questions. If this isn’t fixed by tonight, should I just swing by?”

Ladybug paled. “Hooooow would you do that? Swing by where?”

Juleka blinked. “I mean by the baaaaaaooooh, snap. We aren’t supposed to know who’s who yet?”

Ladybug nervously shook her head. “You, um, you know who I am?”

The beeping increased. “Later,” Juleka said. “Meet me on the Eiffel Tower this evening and bring snacks. We can talk tonight.”

“Yeah,” Ladybug said, slightly shaken. “Okay, that works. Um, what should I bring?”

“I like lemon cake!” Dame said as she ran into the building. “And caffeine!”

“Huh,” Ladybug said. “Well, today just got weird.” She looked to Mylène. “Like, as in for me, weird.”

“Who was that?” Mylène asked as she rubbed her head. “Oh dear. Did I hurt anyone?”

Ladybug smiled and shook her head, which was still slightly bruised. “Nothing some ladybugs couldn’t fix. Come on, let’s get you back to class.”

***

The moment she was alone and safely hidden in a restroom stall, Juleka dropped her transformation and promptly freaked the Hell out. “Okay bug,” Juleka said, her voice shaking. “Talk.”

“First, do you have any food?” Tikki asked as she fell into Juleka’s hands. “I’m not feeling so good.”

Juleka fished a twinkie out of her pocket. “Here. It was my dessert today.”

“Thanks,” Tikki said as she devoured the squished treat. “So, from the look of it? I think you got dimension-swapped.”

Juleka blinked in confusion. “The Hell does that mean?”

“Well, this dimension’s Juleka must have been sent to our dimension by that akuma,” Tikki said as she thought things through. “And that would have sent you here in response. It has to do with the displacement of related mass and so on. Hopper can explain it better. He’s the kwami of dimensions, but he was in another miracle box, and even if he were here? There’s a 50/50 chance he wouldn’t help, anyway. He’s kind of an asshole.” Tikki immediately covered her mouth. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to use bad language. But he is, though.”

“So, what?” Juleka asked. “I’m here because of a goof?”

Tikki shrugged. “It happens sometimes.”

“Dude!” Juleka sputtered. “Getting an extra Snickers out of the vending machine happens sometimes. Dimension swapping does not just happen sometimes! Like, how am I supposed to get back home? What about… What about Rose?” Juleka’s voice was dangerously close to cracking.

“Hey,” Tikki said. “It’ll be okay, Juleka. I’ve been through this before.”

“Okay,” Juleka said. “So, then, how do we fix things?”

“Well, we’re gonna need the Guardian’s help,” Tikki said. “Luckily, this dimension’s Marinette seems pretty open to helping us.”

“She asked if I was Panthera,” Juleka said. “Do you think… Am I Chat Noir here?”

“It’s a possibility,” Tikki said. “You have a good heart. I can see you being chosen.”

Juleka smiled and blushed at the compliment. “So, okay. Cool. We’ll meet her tonight. In the meantime, what do I do? Should I just, I dunno, hide for a while? Do you think I could just hide on the barge?”

Tikki thought about it. “Well, if you swapped with the Juleka of this dimension, then maybe you don’t have to? You know the school, and you are kind of quiet. Do you think you can get through the day?”

Juleka stared at the kwami. “You want me to just, like, pretend to be the other me and go through the motions while I look at everyone and have an existential crisis until tonight?”

Tikki nodded. “Well, I mean, just pretend to just be ‘you’ and roll with things? I’m sure the other you would appreciate it. You could take notes for her?”

Juleka stared. “This is a terrible plan. I think I’m going to throw up.”

“Look, it’s what I’ve got to work with,” Tikki said. “There’s a way to get us home, but I’ll need to talk to the Guardian, first.”

“So, let’s go talk to this Guardian,” Juleka said.

Tikki stared. “Ladybug is the Guardian.”

“…Oh.” She looked to Tikki. “Sooooo… I have to go to school?”

“You have to go to school.”

Juleka sniffed. “…But I wanna go home.”

Tikki floated in front of Juleka’s face. “Juleka? I know we’ve asked a lot of you today. You’ve fought two akumas already, you’ve been pulled out of your world, we have no idea what’s going to happen, but I’m the kwami of creation and luck. I can get us through this.”

She reached out with her adorable hands and gently tilted Juleka’s face up to hers. “But to do all that? I need your help.”

Juleka sniffed again. “Is this your way of saying cut the shit?”

Tikki nodded. “I mean, if you need me to curse, I can, if that’ll help.” Tikki cleared her throat and shot Juleka a stern look. “Woman the fuck up Juleka, and I swear to you we will get home.”

Juleka sighed. “Goddammit. That was adorable.”

“Jules?” A familiar voice called. Juleka quickly opened her pocket for Tikki to hide in.

“Yeah?” Juleka ducked out of the stall to see Rose looking around.

“Oh!” Rose said, a slightly nervous look on her face. “You’re okay! I was, I mean, I thought I heard…” She looked around. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah,” Juleka said, only slightly panicking. “Yep, just me. Alone. Doing restroom things.”

‘ _Smooth_ ,’ Juleka thought to herself.

Rose looked around again. “Okay, um, yeah. You coming back to class? The akuma’s been taken care of. It’s safe now,” Rose said, reassuringly.

“Yeeeeaaaaah,” Juleka said. “Class. Sure.”

She started to head for the door, but Rose cleared her throat.

“Yes, dear?” Juleka said automatically.

Rose immediately turned beet red. “Um,” she pointed at the sinks. “Do you need to wash your hands?”

Juleka blushed a bit. “Um, yeah. Of course.”

She was oblivious to the crimson color on Rose’s cheeks.

***

Back in class, Juleka had to steady herself as everything looked, well, a lot like her own timeline. She drifted to her usual seat and plopped down beside a still red Rose.

 _‘Okay, play it cool,_ ’ Juleka thought. _‘They think you’re this dimension’s Juleka. We can just fake it until class is over and then meet up with Marinette to fix this. I just have to get through the day.’_

She glanced down at the manic bluentte as the girl frantically talked to Alya about the akuma.

 _‘I hope you can fix this, boss.’_ Juleka thought.

“Morning everyone,” A voice said from the front. Juleka looked up. “Now that the obligatory akuma attack is done, maybe we can get some learning in.”

“Wow,” Juleka said to herself as Caline entered the room. “Ms. Bourgeois is looking good today.” This version of her teacher was a couple years younger than what Juleka was used to looking at and wearing her white suit instead of her usual red and black spotted blazer. Juleka realized that in this dimension, Caline overall had less lines around her face. She supposed Camille had been running her into the ground enough back home that it was starting to show.

Rose’s mouth dropped. “Seriously? You’re checking out Chloé? What are you talking about?”

Juleka blinked as she remembered. “I mean Bustier! Ms. Bustier is looking sharp. I just, sorry. I guess my head’s not on right today,” Juleka said with a nervous laugh. She leaned over and kissed Rose on the cheek.

 _‘ASLDOFHSAJBEGLJBDFGLSBG!’_ Rose thought as she turned purple.

Juleka settled in and reached into a familiar-looking backpack to pull out notes that, well, looked like hers. _‘I’m stuck for now, I can’t fix this, and if I bolt or panic or throw up, people will think something is wrong with this world’s Juleka, and I don’t wanna do that to her. So… I guess I’m stuck. In school. I’ve had nightmares about this, but cool, cool, cool. Might as well take notes for me,’_ she thought as she tuned into what Ms. Bustier was saying. She completely ignored the fact that Rose was having a stroke beside her.

And so it went for two more periods. Overall, Juleka was weirded out by how _familiar_ everything was. She was continually fretting about what was happening back home, but it was easy to forget that she wasn’t in her own, well, anything. Because if she squinted, this could easily have _been_ home. Marinette kept looking over at Adrien. Adrien was oblivious. Sabrina was chatting up Chloé, and Chloé was, well… Okay, Chloé was being a bit of a bitch to everyone, save for Alix. Juleka noted that the blonde had said something off-putting when everyone _but_ the diminutive pink haired girl had spoken up.

‘ _Weird_ ,’ Juleka thought. She glanced at Alix, who was pretending to look at Ms. Bustier, but…

Juleka blinked.

Alix was actually staring at Chloé. And not in a casual or one-off way. No, Juleka knew that look. It was an all-too familiar mix of frustration, confusion, and desperation.

 _God_ , did she know it. She could smell her own.

 _‘No fucking way,_ ’ Juleka thought to herself. _‘I wonder if other-me picked up on that.’_

By lunchtime, Juleka had simmered enough that she felt like her dimension or not, she should at least say something. She plopped down right beside Marinette, who was busy talking to Alya. Rose in turn sat down on the other side of Juleka.

Juleka kept eyeing Marinette, who was pretty engaged with her conversation. Awkwardly, she wondered if she could talk to her, or at least get her alone for a moment. Marinette just kept going a mile a minute, smiling and chattering away.

“Hmmm,” Juleka mused as she took a bite of rectangle pizza. _‘Some things are just constant, I guess,’_ she thought. She took out a piece of paper and debated writing a note, but she wasn’t sure what to put down.

“What are you doing?” Rose asked as she sipped her juice.

Juleka was focused on her note. She mumbled, “Nothing, just writing Marinette a note. Not sure how to tell her this, though…”

Rose’s facial expression didn’t change, but she sucked her juice box dry to the point of crumpling it. “Oh?” She asked as it disintegrated in her vice-like grip.

Juleka nodded and bit the end of her pen. _‘I mean, if I do this, will it screw things for the other me? Will it put her on edge? Ugh! I hate this! I wish I was home.’_

Without thinking about it, she set her pen down and huffed. She then leaned against Rose and snuggled into her. As she did, she whimpered, “I just want to go home.”

Rose, her brain still not firing correctly, went rigid and kept sucking down her very empty juice box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I know I promised a giant monster this chapter, but I seriously forgot how long this section was, so I had to break it up. The giant monster is coming tomorrow.
> 
> NEXT TIME!
> 
> A Giant monster! For real! I swear!
> 
> Juleka confesses her feelings!
> 
> Rose is on board!
> 
> Some Chloe! Why not?
> 
> ALL! NEXT! CHAPTER!
> 
> Be here tomorrow for the actual action and not the talking stuff (which honestly I prefer, but hey. Gotta shake it up.) NEXT TIME! Same Bug Time...
> 
> ROSE: I'm fine with some Bug Time... 
> 
> OTHER ROSE: Ooo! Me too!
> 
> JULEKAS: DLGJDLKGJSDLGKJBBSDFFLGKJBESRLGKJB!
> 
> ...Same Bug Channel!


	3. Text Me That, Please?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Panthera and Rose take down a monster. There's some other stuff, too.

So, back in the other dimension, Rose and Juleka stood and listened as the Plaggs cursed.

“Okay, okay. So, I _think_ I paid attention last time? We need a Hopper, or barring that, a Fluff,” One Plagg said.

“We’re not using Hopper,” the other Plagg said. “Dude is a total asshole.”

“Agreed,” the first Plagg said. “Does your Guardian still have the stopwatch?”

“Yeah, she’s got it,” the other Plagg said.

“She?” The first Plagg asked. “Dang. Your timeline got weird, yo.”

“Tell me about it,” the second Plagg said. “Look, boss lady should have what we need. I think.” They looked to the two girls. “So, yeah. Feel like making a bakery run?”

Rose nodded and laced her fingers with Juleka’s. “We’re ready, kitty cats! Um, why are we going to a bakery?”

Plagg looked to Rose and counted down. When he hit one, Rose’s eyes went wide. “Oooooooh, right. Gotcha. She’ll know what to do.”

Juleka panicked and tensed up at the contact, which caused Rose to let her go. “Sorry!” Rose said. “I just, we, um, you look a lot like her.”

“No, no, it’s, um… I didn’t mind?” Juleka said, still slightly panicked. “You, um, wow. I’m just… This is something I’ve, um, had dreams about? And I wasn’t ready for, um, you. Your hands are soft.”

They awkwardly stared at each other before they turned away and started whistling.

“Hey, wierdos,” a Plagg said. “You wanna transform and get today over with? Because we kinda get queasy if we’re around each other for too long.”

“He’s right,” the other Plagg said. “The same being isn’t supposed to occupy the same timeline twice. Something, something, physical temporal displacement of equal mass, something.”

Juleka paled. “Are you gonna get sick or die or something?”

“Nah,” Plagg said. “But we get gassy.”

“Like, so gassy,” the other Plagg said. “It’s gross. And the heartburn.”

“You don’t even know,” first Plagg agreed. “And there’s the whole exponentially increased chaos quotient thing.”

“The what now?” Juleka asked.

“Nothing,” Plagg said. “We just need to take care of this, like, soon. Before things gets real.”

“Right. Come on, you little shit. Let’s get this sorted out,” Juleka said, smiling. “Plagg, claws out!”

Rose watched Juleka transform and squealed. “Jules, you look so BADASS! You’re like a biker ninja! How have I not just tackled you in your world? Seriously?!”

“I dunno?” Panthera said, blushing. She rubbed the back of her head. “I mean, you’re just so cool, and, like, we’re friends and I honestly don’t want to mess things up. I’m not sure if you’d even be into all this, so, yeah. I’ll take what I can get, and, and I’m cool with that.”

The other Plagg shot her a deadpan stare. “I’ve known you for five minutes and even I know you’re full of shit.”

Rose snickered. “Plagg, claws out!”

The remaining Plagg let out a tired sigh as he was sucked into the ring. A second later, dominatrix Rose was standing in front of Panthera and purring. “Now, look at me again and tell me I’m not into this.” She gestured to the punk hero.

“So, um, what do I call you?” Panthera asked. Her cheeks were turning pink.

“Call me La Femme Noire,” Rose giggled. “And seriously. I am telling you right here and now? There is no way any version of me in any timeline isn’t ready to be thrown to the ground by you. Especially if you’re dressed like that. Woof.”

“Don’t you mean meow, darling?” Panthera asked, blushing. She winked.

“Okay, okay, damn. Jesus Christ, let’s just get you home,” Rose said, her face a deep red. “If you stay too long, I don’t want to have to explain to my Juleka that I broke down and slept with her counterpart.” She eyed Panthera. “Unless you think the other you would find that to be a turn-on? I mean, two of you, both dressed like that… Yeah, it’s kind of a turn-on.”

Panthera stumbled and turned purple. “HEY LET’S GO FIX THIS RIGHT YES PLEASE.”

Rose laughed as she took off in the direction of the bakery with a nervous Panthera following close behind.

***

The school was, what? A couple blocks from the bakery? Like, 30 seconds by rooftop?

So, of _course_ the bad guys chose that moment to attack.

Both girls came to a stop as a giant monster roared behind them. The sound was deafening, and to both girls, oddly familiar. Several windows nearby shattered from the sheer force of it.

They turned to see…

“Ho. Lee. Shit.” Panthera said as she drifted to a halt. “Fuck this timeline. I wanna go home.”

She and Rose looked up.

Like, _way_ up.

“That’s Godzilla,” Rose said. “That is clearly Godzilla.”

Panthera nodded. “Agreed, but why is he pink? And is that… Does he have pipe cleaner ears?”

Rose nodded. “Looks like bunny ears.”

Up from the depths, at least thirty stories high, breathing fire, his head wrapped in pipe cleaner, stood Godzilla. A bright pink Godzilla, but Godzilla, none the less. The kaiju was roaring his trademark roar and slowly stomping through Paris as he made his way towards the Eiffel Tower.

“Okay,” Panthera said. “So, this is your world. I’m guessing this is the norm for you. Any thoughts?”

Rose shrugged. “So, like, this is my first day. With this kwami, at least.”

Panthera looked to Rose. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Hey, don’t snap at me! It was for a special akuma!” Rose said, defensively.

“What kind of akuma needed you to borrow a miraculous?”

“One that required true love to defeat!” Rose yelled.

“Oh,” Panthera blushed and coughed. “Right then.” She started twirling her staff. “Gotta admit, I’ve never seen an akuma like this before.” She stared at the copyright 1998 printed across the monster’s foot as it was raised above the city.

“It’s probably a sentimonster,” Rose said. “Those things are a real problem here.”

“Senti-what now?” She stared at the monster. “You know what? Never mind. It’s cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Sentimonster. That’s new,” Panthera said. “Are they possessed?”

Rose shook her head. “More like, they’re objects brought to life? Like toys?”

“So, he’s not actually alive?” Panthera asked, grinning.

Rose shrugged. “I’m not the expert, here.”

“Right. Like toys,” Panthera said as she took off towards the titanic beast. “Good enough. I’ll take it.”

Both heroes bounded across the city towards the giant kaiju, their staffs out and in hand. The monster was moving slow for, well, a monster, but its gait was such that it would be at the tower in under a minute.

“Damn,” Panthera said. She looked up at the behemoth. From where she stood, it was actually blocking out the sun. “How do we even fucking do this?”

Both girls froze as the giant monster opened its mouth. A swirl of blue energy was crackling within it. Panthera looked to where the kaiju’s head was pointed and cried out, “He’s gonna try to blow up the market district!”

“How do we stop it?” Rose asked, panicked. “And where are the other heroes? I didn’t sign up for this!”

Panthera looked to her.

_‘Other heroes?’_

“I’m gonna buy you some time. While I’ve got him distracted, use your attack to fry this fucker’s leg off.”

Rose looked to the giant monster. “But, but he’s so big! I really don’t know if I can… Jules, fighting an evil science teacher is one thing, but this? I can’t do this! I can’t…”

“Rose, focus!” Panthera snapped. “We don’t have time for this! If he blows up the market district… We don’t have Ladybug to fix things!”

“But… But this thing is so BIG! I just…”

Panthera rolled her eyes. She reached out, grabbed Rose by the front of her outfit, and brought her in for a kiss.

It was sloppy. It started hard and escalated fast, with both girls equal parts surprised and hungry for the other. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly what Juleka had imagined for their first actual make out session, but they were probably gonna die without Ladybug around and dammit she was NOT dying without kissing Rose at least one more time. Especially while she was dressed like that.

“Listen!” Panthera growled as she pulled away. She was breathing hard, and her voice was oozing confidence. “You can do this! You are smart, strong, brave, beautiful, kind, and awesome! You are Rose _fucking_ Lavillant, and _you can do this!”_

“But how do you know that?” Rose asked, her cheeks now red. “How do _you_ know I can do this?”

Panthera turned beet red and shouted, “Because I’m in love with you!”

Panthera was breathing so hard she was heaving at this point. Also, she was 50/50 on the prospect of throwing up.

"I've _always_ been in love with you," Juleka said, her voice now quiet. 

Rose wasn’t breathing. She just stared at the cat girl in front of her.

 _‘Wow, that felt hella good to say out loud,’_ Juleka thought to herself.

Rose’s expression changed to one that radiated determination. Her green cat eyes were shining as she clenched her fists. “Thank you. I needed to hear that,” she said. “Let’s kick his ass!”

“That’s the spirit, darling!” A still red Panthera said. She popped in her earbuds, cued up a random [song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pESD-4liOI) and took off like a cat possessed to put herself in between the market district and the monster.

“Come on come on come ON!” Juleka said as she sprinted. She had one of her fast, hard rock songs blaring in her ears. Something she had caught her mother listening to and then secretly looked up without admitting she kinda liked it, too. I mean, if she was going to die, she figured she might as well do so while enjoying some music to fit the mood. She jumped on top of the tallest building in the monster’s path, massively extended her pole, and looked up.

Bunny-Godzilla looked like a skyscraper in front of her. She could feel the heat building up in the monsters mouth from where she was standing.

 _'I can do this,'_ she thought to herself. She could feel the electricity from the energy buildup crackling along her skin.

Panthera swallowed and cried out, “Let’s see what you’ve got, you bunny-eared motherfucker!”

Bunny-eared Godzilla had finished charging his blast. He reared back and then forward, vomiting a deadly, massive wave of energy towards Panthera.

 _‘If I die, I’m sorry, partner,’_ Juleka thought.

Juleka spun her weapon as fast as she could. The blast hit the spinning staff and…

“Holy shit!” Rose said, dumbfounded. “We can _do_ that?!”

Panthera screamed as she deflected the blast. The world in front of her was white-hot, and her ears were blaring with loud music and the deafening roar of radioactive energy. She screamed back equally loud and spun her staff faster.

And then the blast stopped.

Panthera dropped to one knee, instantly shrinking her weapon and using it to support herself as she watched the right leg of the kaiju dissolve in a mass of bubbling, black energy. The massive monster fell slowly, letting out a surprised roar as it crashed right into the Seine. Its heft forced the water of the canal forward, which caused a massive tidal wave to wash downstream.

“My turn,” Panthera breathed. She grabbed her staff with both hands and launched herself into the air like a punk rocket, sailing over the city and coming down on the monster’s face with a scream of “CATACLYSM!”

She was so jazzed up from the combination of blocking the energy wave and kissing a version of Rose that she actually went _through_ the monster’s head. Bunny-Godzilla let out a garbled cry as it's head dissolved into a bubbling mass of melting pink plastic, black energy, and gigantic fake ears. As the kaiju’s face rotted away, a purple feather drifted out.

The moment the feather was free, the monster dissolved completely into a small, plastic toy that had obviously been painted and messed with to make it look like a pink bunny.

Panthera slumped to the ground as she stared at the monster disappearing around her. She managed to her feet as Rose approached her, smiling.

“Hey,” Panthera said. She took her earbuds out.

“Hey,” Rose said back. “Thank you for that. I’m sorry I panicked. I just…”

“Dude, that was fucking insane. I was freaking out the whole time,” Panthera said. “Thank you for saving me.”

“Of course,” Rose said. “Why wouldn’t I?”

They smiled at each other, both not quite sure if they should bump fists or make out.

“HOLY SHIT!” A voice cried out.

Panthera looked up to see a blonde, yellow and black hero drop down beside them. “What was that? What the actual FUCK was that?”

“It was a sentimonster,” Rose said. “But we took care of it. It’s done now.”

“That was the biggest, stupidest sentimonster I’ve ever seen. I legit thought I was having a hallucination for, like, five minutes,” Queen Bee said. “I had Carapace by the Tower and Rena was with Ryuko on the other side ready to take this thing down, but… Damn. Nice job, La Femme Noire.”

“Awww, you remembered my hero name!” Rose said, smiling. “Thanks, Chloé!”

Panthera choked a bit. “Ch… Chloé?”

Chloé looked to Juleka. “Yeah? Hey, wait. You’re… Did you change your costume? You look, um, you look way more metal than you did earlier today. You two okay?”

“We’re good,” Rose said. She picked up the pink toy and handed it to Chloé. “I’m thinking it was based on this?”

“Huh,” Chloé said, examining the toy. “Looks like someone did some revenge alterations to a sibling’s toy. Well, whatever. Um,” she glanced to Panthera. “Do you wanna throw your lucky charm there, good lookin’? It wasn’t around for long, but this thing did manage to fuck up some buildings, you know.”

“Uh, I, um, I don’t do that?” Panthera said. “Sorry.”

“What do you mean, you don’t… Wait.” She stared closer at Panthera. After a second, her eyes went wide. “Oh holy shit! You have Plagg!”

Juleka shrank a bit. “How do you know that? Seriously, what the actual fuck is going on in this timeline that you of all people know that?”

“Please,” Chloé said. “Like I wouldn’t know everyone’s kwami.” She held up her magic top, activated the camera phone feature, and took a quick pic of Panthera. “But seriously, what’s going on? Where’s Ladybug’s miraculous?”

"Text me that, please?" Rose asked.

Panthera shrugged. “From what I’ve gathered, probably with the other me? Look, um, I get that a lot is going on, but you’re gonna have to slow down a bit because I just got here like twenty minutes ago and this place is fucking crazy.”

Rose put her hand on Chloé’s arm. “This isn’t our Juleka,” she said.

Chloé’s eyes went wide. She looked Panthera over. “Future? Doppelganger? Alternate reality?”

“That last one,” Panthera said, pointing. Her hand then beeped at her. “And I’m gonna need to recharge. Um, yeah.” She looked to both heroes. “I… I need to go somewhere safe.”

Chloé nodded. “Do you know where the Dupain-Cheng bakery is?”

Panthera blinked. “Marinette’s?”

“Oh good,” Chloé said, slightly relieved. “This’ll be easier than I thought. You two head there. I need to brief the other heroes and let daddy know we don’t have a lucky charm today to clean this up.”

Rose nodded. “Right! Um, wait.” She raised her hand slightly. “Um, I don’t think I’m supposed to know that she’s, um…”

Chloé rolled her eyes. “You too? But you _know_ , right?”

Rose nodded. “Yeah. Like, ever since the Star Train incident.”

“I know, right?” Chloé said. “Like, seriously! There were only so many places to hide! Ugh, fine. Just… Give me back Plagg. I need to get him back to Mamabug before his actual holder has a stroke.”

Rose nodded and slipped the ring off her finger. Plagg appeared, slightly woozy. “Okay kid, ya did alright. I need food, though. Like, now please.”

Chloé took the ring and slipped it on. She then took a small cookie out of her top and handed it to the hungry kwami. “You mind rolling with me for a bit, cat?”

“Eh, there’s worse fates,” Plagg said. He looked to Panthera. “We need to get her to the boss before Hawkmoth decides it’s a field day.”

Chloé nodded. She looked to Rose. “Drop you somewhere?”

“Um, the barge?” Rose asked.

“How about the school?” Chloé countered. “I’m heading that way, anyway.”

“One sec,” Rose quickly went to Panthera and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “When you’re ready? Try telling the other Rose what you said to me. She’ll thank you for it. I promise.”

Panthera blushed and touched the spot beside her mouth as Rose giggled. Chloé put her arm around Rose and flung her top for the nearest roof. “I’ll catch you later, goth girl. Nice work, by the way.”

She then zipped up and out of sight.

Juleka stood for a second, staring.

“Chloé complimented me? And she’s a hero? And was generally tolerable? And what’s a Mamabug?” She wiped at her mouth. “The fuck is this place?”

With that, she took off towards the bakery.

***

“Huh.”

Marinette stood in the middle of her room and stared at Juleka, who was feeding a piece of cheese to Plagg. Juleka, in turn, waved nervously to the bluenette.

“Hey partner,” Juleka said. She flashed the biggest awkward smile she could. “Soooo, how’s things?”

Marinette crossed her arms and just… Stared. She had been sent home by Caline after the akuma attack and had just settled in to do an afternoon of catch-up design work when _Juleka_ of all people dropped in through her skylight. With Plagg.

“I’m, um, sorry?” Juleka said. “I’m not, well, this is going to sound weird, but…”

“We’re from an alternate reality where she’s the Black Cat holder,” Plagg said between bites of cheese. “We got sent here by accident and now we’re looking to get home. You got Fluff around?”

“…Huh,” Marinette said again. “By chance, you didn’t come from the utility closet upstairs, did you?”

Juleka blinked. “What? Why would we have?”

Marinette waved her off. “It’s, um, never mind. And please don’t open it. It’s a time portal. I just thought maybe it was broken or something.” She shrugged and let out a long sigh. “So yeah. This actually isn’t the weirdest thing to happen this month. You want a drink? Maybe a snack, Jules?”

Juleka nodded, only slightly confused. “Um, yes please? Some lemon cake, if you have it?”

Marinette nodded. “Right. Plagg? You good?”

Plagg gave her a grin. “I mean, I wouldn’t turn down a cheese danish, pigtails.”

Marinette sighed. “Right. I’ll be right back. Make yourself at home,” she said as she headed downstairs.

Juleka leaned in and whispered to Plagg, “does she seem a little too casual about all this?”

Plagg shrugged. “This ain’t our Marinette. Everyone here seems older, and this version of her looks like she’s pregnant. Also, she’s apparently the Guardian, so some shit has gone down in this timeline. Fu wouldn’t give up the miracle box unless he was dead or completely fucked.”

“Huh,” Juleka said. She looked around the room that she had only been in with her friends. It was less cluttered than she remembered, and there were notably fewer pictures of Adrien. Also, some things appeared to be in boxes. It looked like a room in the early stages of transition.

“Hey,” Juleka asked. She hugged herself. “You said this sort of thing has happened before, right?”

Plagg nodded. “Yeah. Like, just three hundred years ago, I kid you not, this exact same thing happened. Took us for freaking ever to figure out how to fix it, but we did.”

Juleka breathed a sigh of relief. “So, you're positive this isn’t permanent?”

“Hell no,” Plagg said. “There’s even a multiverse kwami that could fix this in a heartbeat, but the frog is in another box. That’s okay, though. We can make do with what we’ve got.”

“Hey,” Marinette said as she popped back up. She handed Juleka a plate with some lemon cake and a glass of juice. “So, how are you doing? I can only imagine how weird everything must seem here, this not being your world and all.”

Juleka took a bite of cake. She rolled her eyes back and smiled. “Thankfully, aside from the giant monster and Rose being in love with me, things don’t seem all that different here. Still, this is the first chance I’ve had to, um, breathe. Today has been absolutely wild.”

“No kidding,” Marinette said. “I saw the giant monster. Was that sentimonster actually a bunny Godzilla?”

Juleka nodded. “Yeah. And what the Hell is a sentimonster, anyway?”

Marinette flashed a nervous smile. “Um, just one more problem we have to deal with, here.” She gingerly sat down in her office chair and smiled. "Been on my feet a little bit more than I thought, today."

Juleka stared at Marinette's slight pooch. "Soooo, that's new. Congratulations?"

Marinette blushed. "Thanks. I've been trying to keep it a secret, but that's about done, I'd say." She looked at Plagg for a moment. “So,” she asked. “You’re, um, you’re the Chat Noir to your Ladybug?”

“Panthera Noire,” Juleka corrected her. “And I guess? She’s my partner.”

“Do you two get along?” Marinette asked.

“Of course. Like I said, she’s, well, my partner. She’s, well,” Juleka’s voice grew softer. “I trust her with my life.”

Marinette blushed lightly and smiled. “That’s… Wow. Just, the way you said that. I got goosebumps. She, the other me? She must be very lucky to have you.”

Juleka shrugged. “I guess?" She sat down on the edge of Marinette's bed and sighed. "I mean, I always feel like I’m letting her down. She’s the important one. I’m just the meat shield that breaks things.”

“Hey,” Marinette said, her smile now gone. “I have never, ever seen my partner as anything other than an equal. I would have died a hundred times over if it hadn’t been for my kitty. I owe him everything, and if the other me is anything like me, I know she’d say the same.”

Juleka blinked in surprise at the weight of Marinette’s words. “Um, yeah. Th… Thanks for that. I, like, I get that? It’s just how I feel, I guess. And it’s cool. I’m happy being me. I just…” She looked to Marinette. “You’re totally my hero. That’s all.”

Marinette’s blush returned. “I mean, I’m not. Your Ladybug is. You should be telling her this, not me. Heck, I’m no hero right now. I’m completely out of commission!” She gestured to her stomach. "Can't risk the passenger."

“I can’t tell her,” Juleka said. “Um, she doesn’t know that I know.”

Marinette went quiet. “Oh,” she said. “But, you know who she is? I am? You know?”

Juleka nodded. “I, um, it was an accident? And I’ve kept quiet. You’re, she’s, um, she’s got enough going on without me getting in her business.”

Marinette looked to Juleka. “Are… Are we friends in your world?”

Juleka nodded. “Not, like, best friends? But yeah, we get along and stuff.”

“Why aren’t we?” Marinette asked. “I mean, you’re cool, Jules. I dig hanging out with you. I mean, you’re constantly with Rose in this world, so I always feel a bit like a third wheel, but… I dunno. You’re super cool, and, um, if you’re my Chat Noir, then, well…”

Juleka watched as Marinette blushed and moved her hair back behind her ear. Something about the way she said that… 

Juleka snorted, blowing the comment off. “I assure you, the Marinette of my time does not share that problem. Um, the Rose thing, I mean.”

Marinette blinked. “Are you, um, not together?”

Juleka shook her head.

“…Why not?” Marinette asked. “I mean, it’s cool if you’re not, I just… Why not?”

Juleka shrugged. “Because I’m a fucking coward, that’s why.”

Marinette considered her for a moment. “But… You’re Panthera Noire.”

“Only when I have the ring on,” Juleka said.

“Hey,” Marinette said. She reached out and took Juleka’s hand. “When you see me, who do you see?”

“Ladybug,” Juleka said without skipping a beat.

Marinette smiled. “I don’t even have my earrings right now. I’m just a normal girl, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m also Ladybug. Even without that ring? You’re still Panthera. You’re a hero, Juleka. And it’s okay to be your own hero.”

Juleka thought on this.

“Hey, ladies?” Plagg said, breaking the silence. “I hate to interrupt, but we need to get home.” He looked to Marinette. “So, making sure. You’re the Guardian?”

Marinette nodded. “Yep. That’s me.”

Plagg nodded back. “Figured. I felt it when we dropped in. I won’t ask what happened, but… Damn, girl. You must have seen some shit.”

Marinette nodded again. “You could say that. So, what do we need to do to send you home, Plagg?”

Plagg cracked his knuckles. “Not much. Not much at all. Just, well, I admit I was asleep for part of this? But I think you just need to call the Guardian of Time. We’ll need to augment her a bit, but she should be cool with it.”

Marinette stared for a moment. “You mean Bunnyx?”

Plagg nodded.

“Um, well… She’s, what if I haven’t given her a miraculous yet?”

Plagg stared. “Seriously?”

Marinette nodded.

“Okay,” Plagg said. He rubbed his eyes. “Here’s what you’re gonna do. You got a phone?”

Marinette nodded.

“Good,” Plagg said. “Use it to call the girl who is supposed to be the guardian of time and give her a fucking miraculous.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was really supposed to be two chapters, but I didn't wanna break them up, so now it's one BIG chapter!
> 
> I noticed SorryJustAnotherPerson sometimes links to what Panthera is listening to in their stories, so I did the same. Just some late 90's punk that I used to love, like, in the late 90's.
> 
> NEXT TIME!
> 
> Will Rose confront Marinette?
> 
> Will Dame De Sang find refuge with the one person who knows her identity?
> 
> Can Dame de Sang and Ladybug save all of Paris?
> 
> Be here tomorrow for these answers and more! Same Bug Time...
> 
> LA FEMME NOIRE: I'll take some cat time! Meow.
> 
> PANTHERA: ...I need an adult.
> 
> ...Same Bug Channel!


	4. A Shower Would Be Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose confronts Marinette. Juleka has a talk with someone and helps out with a problem.

Back in the other dimension…

Rose watched as Juleka bolted out of class the second the bell rang. She had wanted to talk with her, or walk her home, or, you know, maybe explore the fact that she had kissed her on the cheek and all, maaayyybe try it again, but with a slight shift in focus so she wouldn’t miss this time, but… Nope. Juleka was gone.

But Marinette wasn’t.

Rose watched as the chipper girl packed her bag and hummed to herself. The class was filing out, but Rose was moving slowly, her eyes still on Mari.

Finally, it was just the two of them.

“Ahem,” Rose said. I mean, she could have cleared her throat, but she had kind of forgotten how, what with being so distracted by trying to seem all imposing.

Oh, like you’ve never done something that stupid.

Marinette looked back to her and smiled. “Oh, hey Rose. What’s up? Oh! I’m glad you’re here. I have a summer themed pattern I wanted to try out and I thought of you, first. I started with a sundress! I hope you don’t mind, but I remembered your measurements and did it with you in mind? I was wondering if…”

“What’s going on between you and Juleka?” Rose blurted out.

Marinette paused and stared. “Excuse me?”

Rose stood and knocked her books over. She quickly bent down to gather them up and neatly shove them in her bag before she stood right back up again and continued to glare. “You and Jules! Wasn’t Adrien enough? Did you have to keep tempting people with those gorgeous eyes and your perfect smile and gymnasts body and that smooth, perfect skin? You just parade around this classroom looking like a goddess and making everyone fall in love with you and have fantasies and daydreams about holding your hand and cuddling you and… Where does it stop? Alya? Nino? Chloé?! Where, you talented fairy princess goddess!”

Marinette blinked. “…What?”

“What’s the story? With you! And Her! And by her, I mean Juleka! And, and don’t play dumb. I know dumb!”

Okay, I have to cut in and say that, objectively, this is like watching a person get verbally attacked by a care bear and I am loving it. Look at her! She’s all vibrating with rage and her eyes are really big and… Oh yeah. This is a written story. Sorry.

“Jules? What? I, Rose, what are you even talking about?”

Rose balled up her fists and huffed. “Are you and Juleka doing things together?”

Marinette’s brow scrunched. “I… Don’t follow. You mean like, hanging out?”

“Yes, hanging out with, with,” Rose tried to fit her hands together in several different ways before giving up and huffing. “With kissing and holding hands and, and stuff!” Rose yelled. “And cuddling! Extreme cuddling!”

Marinette’s eyes went wide.

 _‘Ah. Okay, now I’m on the same page._ ’ She thought.

“Rose, no. Why the heck would you ever think that? I mean, what? Ser-i-ous-ly. What are you even talking about?”

“But… She was checking you out!” Rose stammered. “And, and talking to you in the washroom! Even though you weren’t actually in there? And, there was note that she never wrote you! That she never… And, and the sighing! The sighing while she was leaning on me, and…” Rose was locking up. “I have to go now,” she said as she grabbed for her bag, missed, and then grabbed again. She pointed at her own eyes and then at Marinette. “I’m watching you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, and yes! I would love to help you with your summer patterns! That’s a really sweet offer, and I’m flattered! You’re a good friend! And I’m totally not crushing on you so you can forget all those sexy things I just said about you! It never happened! STAY AWAY FROM JULEKA!”

Rose charged out of the classroom, still huffing and puffing as she went.

Marinette stood and watched her go.

“Hey, Tikki?” Marinette asked.

“Yes, Marinette?” Tikki replied.

“…What the heck just happened?”

Tikki shrugged. “Not sure, but you’d probably better get ready to meet that other hero, you talented fairy princess goddess.”

Marinette blushed and covered her face. “Shut up.”

Tikki smirked. “No.”

***

Juleka was transformed the moment she made it to the side of the school. She dashed across the rooftops, muttering to herself about the day as she made her way to where, in her world, the barge was parked.

 _‘Oh, thank God. It’s here,_ ’ she thought as she dropped down and detransformed on the deck. She slipped inside and collapsed on her bed as Tikki flew out.

“You did great today, Juleka,” Tikki said. The tiny god was beaming.

“Thanks, bug. And yeah, I know I shouldn’t be here, but I just… Today has been a lot, and I want to go home and see Rose and… I just needed this. Just for a moment.”

“Sure,” Tikki said. She patted Juleka on the head. “I understand.”

“Hey.”

Tikki and Juleka froze at the sound of Luka’s voice coming from the door. They stared at him in horror.

Luka looked to Tikki and smiled. “Hi there,” he said in that casual, smooth tone that Juleka knew so well. “You’re new, aren’t you? Are you like Plagg?”

At the mention of the other kwami, both Juleka and Tikki visibly relaxed. “Oh, thank God,” Juleka said as she flopped on the bed. “For a moment, I thought I’d have to come up with something stupid.”

Luka considered both of them. He eyed Juleka for a moment before he leaned against the door frame and said, “So, no offense? But, like, who are you?”

Juleka glanced up at him. “What do you mean?”

Luka bit his lip and thought about it for a moment. “You’re not my sister,” he said.

Juleka let out a long sigh as her head hit the pillow again. “Ugh. So, yeah. Um, on that? Yes and no? I… This is weird.”

“We’re not from around here,” Tikki volunteered. “This Juleka got swapped today with yours, and we’re meeting with Ladybug tonight to try to fix things. It’s been a lot to deal with.”

“Oh, cool.” Luka said. He took an apple out of his pocket and took a bite. “So, like, other sister? How was your day?”

Juleka looked up at him. “Seriously? You find out I’m an interdimensional doppelganger, and the first thing you ask is how my day has gone? I could be a brain eater, or an evil twin, or like country music.”

Luka shrugged. “Are you?”

Juleka shook her head. “No.”

“Cool. So, how was your day?”

Juleka leaned back again. “It was fine. This whole thing notwithstanding. I fought an akuma. I sat through history. Had a panic attack. Took some notes for other-me. Died inside a little.”

Luka nodded. “So, that sounds about normal. Cool, then. Mom is working late tonight again, so it’s just you and me. What time are you meeting Ladybug?” He took another bite from his apple.

“Evening? Dusk? I didn’t really set a time,” Juleka said. She glanced at him. “You are shockingly cool about all this. Even for you. Or, like, other you. Gaah!”

Luka thought about it. “I mean, I figure you seem enough like my Jules that it’s only kinda weird, and she’s probably doing the same thing you are, so, you know, why not? You’re my sister, regardless of the version. Least I could do is check on you and make sure you’re okay.”

Juleka sat up and looked at her brother. She sniffed. “Um, so, like, can I hug you? I know it probably sounds weird, but today was weird, and I miss home, and…”

Luka stepped forward and hugged her. “Like you had to ask,” he said. “You still eat pizza in your world, other sis?”

Juleka shrugged. “I could eat.”

“Then let’s get you a pizza. Having a full stomach will help you sort things out.”

Juleka just stared at her older brother. Some days, it felt like he was about her age, and some days, it felt like he was fifty years older. “Thanks, Luka. I… Thank you so much. You’re the best, bro.”

They stayed like that for several seconds until an alert notification came through on Luka’s phone. He stepped back and checked it.

“What is it?” Juleka asked. “Is it an akuma?”

Luka shook his head. He paled. “No, um, it’s worse.”

Juleka blinked. “What could be worse than an akuma?”

***

Juleka, now transformed, landed next to Ladybug in the middle of the Parc des Princes. They both looked up stared at the bright, glowing light in the sky.

“Hey,” Dame de Sang said.

“Hey,” Ladybug said back.

“That is a big meteor,” Dame said.

Ladybug nodded. “Yep. Pretty sure we’re gonna die.”

Dame grinned. “That’s the spirit.”

Ladybug glanced at her and blushed. “Thanks for coming, and sorry. I know this isn’t your world, but I really appreciate the hand.”

Dame de Sang shrugged. “Hey, if I’m here, I might as well help. Plus, like, I don’t wanna die, so there’s that.” She looked to the light as it grew. “Sooo, you wanna go all Cosmobug and deal with this? Because I legit don’t know how to do that.”

Ladybug looked at her and blinked. “What’s a Cosmobug?”

Dame de Sang sighed. “And today just got harder.” She threw her yoyo into the air and screamed, “Lucky charm!”

Two gigantic tubs of dry yeast and dish soap came down.

Dame de Sang blinked. “Right. Okay, you wanna take a stab at this?”

Ladybug copied her. “Lucky charm!”

Two humongous containers of warm water and hydrogen peroxide came down.

“And I’m a bit lost,” Ladybug said. She glanced up at the oncoming meteor. “But I guess that doesn’t matter. We just, we have to figure out a way to stop that thing, and fast!”

Juleka was looking at the containers as she remembered an experiment from earlier that month in chemistry. Say what you will, Juleka freaking loved chemistry. It was the one class they were routinely allowed to light things on fire, and Juleka was all-in on that. So was Alix, but that’s neither here nor there. She looked to Ladybug.

“Okay, I can’t believe it, but I actually know what we’re gonna do. You get up to the edge of the stadium and start spinning like your life depends on it. Because it does.”

“What about you?” Ladybug asked.

“I’ll be there in a second. Go!”

Ladybug took off for the top edge of the gigantic stadium as Dame de Sang put her foot against the side of the yeast container and kicked it over. The brown powder poured out into the stadium.

“Okay,” Juleka said. She cracked her knuckles and used her yoyo to lasso the other three containers. She spared a second to glance at Ladybug, who was busy spinning her yoyo like there was no tomorrow. The meteor was bearing down on them with incredible speed, and Juleka could feel the force from the small tornado that Ladybug was creating.

“Here goes,” Juleka said as she knocked over the three liquids and then leapt for the spot beside Ladybug. Instantly, the four ingredients exploded into a humongous, gooey mass of foam as Juleka spun her yoyo with all her might.

“It’s not stopping!” Ladybug cried out. The meteor was still bearing down on their location. Below them, people were screaming in the streets.

“Just slow it down enough so we don’t die!” Juleka screamed. They both spun harder as the meteor was slammed with the power of dual magical tornadoes.

And slowly,

Slooooowly,

The meteor slowed to a point that it stopped igniting against the atmosphere.

“Move!” Juleka yelled as she grabbed Ladybug. The two women dove off the edge of the stadium as the gigantic rock crashed into the massive vat of elephant toothpaste that had filled the arena behind them.

The tidal wave of foam sloshed over the edge and covered everything within 100 meters of the stadium. It was very goopy and a bit warm, but it worked. They were alive.

Ladybug’s head popped out of the foam. “Huh,” she said. Her face was so calm it was almost placid. “So, I’m done. I am done with today. Going home now. Going to bed.”

Dame de Sang’s head popped out a moment later. “That was new,” she said. She glanced at Ladybug. “Um, can we still meet up at the Tower tonight?”

“Oh yeah, that. Why not now?” Ladybug asked.

Juleka smiled. “I have a lunch date, and I’d like a shower.”

Ladybug felt the goop all around her.

She reached up and felt her hair.

“Yeah, okay. A shower would be good. Tonight. See you, then.”

***

Back in the other dimension…

Alix sat in Marinette’s office chair and stared at Juleka, Marinette, and the rabbit kwami floating beside her.

“So, that’s the situation,” Marinette said. “We apparently need your help to get Jules, um, this Jules home and our Jules back.”

Alix nodded. She looked at the pocket watch in her hands.

“So, let me get this straight,” Alix said, slowly. “I’m getting my miraculous today?”

Marinette nodded. “Apparently.” She looked at the wall beside her and waited for something, anything to come through and tell her to hold on, but nothing happened. “Yep. You are. Congratulations. Oh! Hold on. Gina asked me to do something for you.”

Marinette rummaged around in a desk drawer for a moment before pulling out a bag of confetti. She took out her smartphone and started recording as she tossed some over Alix and said, “and now, you are a woman. Congrats.”

Alix blinked. “Okay? The Hell?”

Marinette shrugged. “I dunno. Something to do with you and her in the future? Maybe it’s a time joke?”

Alix shrugged back. “Whatever. Still, this is so cool, Mars. You don’t even know. Well, you do know, but dude! You do not even know.”

Juleka watched, fascinated. “So, there are other miraculous out there?”

Marinette nodded. “Oh yeah. Like, tons.”

“Okay,” Juleka said. She scratched her head. “I wonder why there’s only two of us, then? Wouldn’t it make more sense to send out an army of us to deal with things?”

Marinette nodded. “It would, but your Guardian never thought like that, I guess? Anyway, it doesn’t matter now. All that’s important is that Alix helps you get home.” She turned to Alix. “So Alix, to activate your mirac…”

“Fluff, clockwise!” Alix shouted. She transformed into a short version of Bunnyx right before their eyes.

“How did you know how to do that?” Marinette asked, shocked.

Alix gave her a deadpan stare. “Dude, I hang out with myself all the time. I know what to do.” She held out her arms and started laughing as she checked herself out. “Ooooooh holy shit, this is awesome! Look at me! LOOOOOK AT ME!” Alix was hopping up and down as she spoke. She was also holding out her arms and staring at them while grinning like a madwoman.

“Alix?” Marinette said. “Hey, we need you to focus. Now, to…”

“Burrow!” Alix cried out. A white oval appeared beside her.

Alix wasted no time. In the blink of an eye, dove into the portal, cackling happily.

The portal closed with a tiny pop.

“…Well, shit.” Marinette sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whelp, they're screwed. Bye, Alix.
> 
> NEXT TIME!
> 
> Will Alix finally come back?
> 
> Will Dame de Sang finally make it to the Tower to meet Ladybug?
> 
> Will anything exciting happen?
> 
> ONLY TWO OUT OF THREE WILL OCCUR!
> 
> ...The next chapter is a bit talky.
> 
> Be here for the pulse-pounding conclusion tomorrow! Same Bug Time...
> 
> ALIX: I just saw every version ever of what you've been talking about and now I know I don't ever want to be in your stories again.
> 
> ...Same Bug Channel!


	5. Time Bandit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's wrap this up and get these girls home.

Back to the other dimension…

Ladybug sat atop her favorite beam of the Eiffel Tower and stared out over the city. Beside her was a bag of end-of-the-day pastries she had swiped from the bakery and two steaming cups of coffee. She had grabbed her usual partner’s favorite, some lemon cake, and was patiently waiting as Dame de Sang touched down beside her. A pizza box was in the goth’s hands.

“Hi,” Juleka said. She turned the box and offered Ladybug a slice. “So, yeah. My other-brother fed me dinner and let me hang for a bit, but I didn’t know if you’d had anything?”

Now, on the subject of food. Marinette lives with Sabine and Tom. Since coming home that afternoon and showering three times, she had already enjoyed a steaming bowl of this awesome hash brown casserole her mother liked to make on cold days, a banana, a granola bar, three cups of juice, another granola bar, and a soda pop.

“I could eat,” Ladybug said as she took a slice. “Thanks.”

Her metabolism was off the freaking rails.

“No problem,” Juleka said. “May I sit?”

“Sure,” Ladybug said. She offered Juleka a steaming cup. “Here. I grabbed a coffee for you.”

“Thanks,” Juleka said. She took a long sip. “This is so good.”

They sat and watched the city lights for a minute.

“So,” Marinette said. “Tikki? My Tikki? Tells me that the longer you’re here, the crazier things are going to get. Something about the universe responding adversely to your quantum signature? I didn’t follow all of it, but to sum up, you just being here automatically makes you a magnet for bad things.”

“That explains the meteor,” Juleka said. “Huh, I wonder how other me is getting along?”

“I don’t know,” Ladybug said. “And I’m sorry, but I don’t know how to get you home, either.”

Juleka looked to her. “But, but Tikki said…”

“I asked the Guardian,” Marinette said. “He’s never run into this before, and he has no idea how to fix this. I’m so, so sorry. I know you were counting on me, but… I’m so sorry.”

Juleka looked to Ladybug, who was starting to cry.

“Hey,” Juleka said, her throat locking up slightly. “Don’t, um, don’t do that. Like, your Guardian doesn’t know how to do this, but that doesn’t mean mine doesn’t, okay?”

“Okay,” Ladybug said. She sniffed and wiped her nose.

They both looked out over the city for a moment.

“I had no idea what to do today,” Ladybug said. “The akuma was beating me down hard. If you hadn’t arrived, I don’t know what would have happened, and then the meteor… I’m normally much more on my game, but today? I completely blanked on the lucky charm.” Ladybug shuddered. “I’m not good at this.”

“Hey,” Juleka said. She put a hand on Ladybug’s shoulder. “You’re great at this. In my world? You’re, like, the greatest hero of all time. There’s even a movie about you.”

“Really?” Ladybug asked.

“Yeah. It’s pretty good, too. Probably because the guy who voices Chat Noir is actually Chat Noir, but nobody knows that.”

“You do.”

“Eh,” Juleka said. “Look. I’m typically a reserve hero. I shouldn’t have your powers, but today was, um, a special case. Normally, it’s you out there, saving everyone and just being awesome. You’re a hero.”

Ladybug blushed a little. She took a bite of pizza. “Thanks, Dame de Sang.” She looked over at the older woman. “The reason I’m so great is because I have you backing me up. Um, other-you.”

Juleka thought on that. “So, I’m a full-time hero here?”

Ladybug nodded. “And you’re amazing. You really are.” She looked to Juleka. “You’re my partner.”

Juleka shrugged it off, but she was blushing. “That’s kind of cool. I guess I’m just used to not being the center of attention, you know? It’s… Different.”

Ladybug nudged her. “Well, I hope it’s good different.”

Juleka smiled as Ladybug leaned against her.

 _‘This is nice,’_ She thought. ‘ _Very familiar.’_

She paused.

_‘VERY familiar.’_

“Um, can I ask a question?” Juleka asked. “And this is strictly because I’m curious. Not because I’m digging for something more, and if you don’t want to answer, that’s totally fine.”

“Sure,” Ladybug said. “You might as well.”

“…Are we, and by we, I mean you and the other-me, a couple?”

Ladybug locked up. Juleka noted that she didn’t pull away, but she had definitely locked up.

“We’re…”

And of course, at that moment, a green and white portal opened up. Ladybug instantly detached herself from the red hero and cleared her throat.

“Huh,” Juleka said. She swallowed her bite of pizza. “You think that’s for me?”

As if to answer her question, a version of Juleka came through the portal wearing, well, biker clothing. She looked visibly frustrated, but she lit up when she saw the two women. “Partner!” She cried out when she saw Ladybug. She then composed herself in front of the other version of, um, herself. That was an awkward sentence to write. Pronouns are not my friend today.

“Dude,” Panthera said as she took in Dame de Sang. “You look like the red version of me.”

“You look like the black version of me,” Dame de Sang said back.

A feisty pink-haired hero popped her head through the portal. She had a top hat and sunglasses, and she looked a bit strained. “Yo, Dame de Sang! Would you get your ass through here? This is taking a lot of effort!”

Dame de Sang looked back to Ladybug. “You’re gonna do alright, Ladybug.”

Ladybug smiled and nodded. “You too, Dame de Sang. Thanks for your help today.”

The two Julekas considered each other one more time.

“I was right. You’re younger than me,” Dame said.

“And you’re older. Your gal says hi, by the way.”

Panthera blushed, which caused Dame to chuckle.

“I bet she did. Check your diary,” Dame said. “I’ll see you around.”

Panthera nodded and grinned. “Your world is a shit show, just so you know.”

“Yours isn’t much better. Take care, other me.”

“Later, other me.”

Dame de Sang then stepped into the portal. A moment later, it vanished.

***

Rewinding a bit…

The girls had been sitting in Marinette’s room for several minutes and forcing awkward conversation to ignore how fucked they were when the white portal appeared again, and Alix climbed out looking bored. “Sup,” she said to Marinette and Juleka.

“Where did you go?” Marinette asked. She was visibly frustrated.

Alix offered Marinette an apologetic smile. “Sorry, Mars. I just got a little excited, is all.”

“Dude,” Juleka snapped. “We’ve been waiting for five minutes.”

“Dude,” Alix snapped back. “The tutorial mode took three hours. Cut me some slack.”

“Your miraculous has a tutorial mode?” Marinette asked.

Alix nodded. She opened a minifridge Marinette kept her grape sodas in and snagged one. “Yeah. It’s interactive and stuff but come on! No tutorial needs to be three hours. And the rules and regulations on this thing! Don’t cause rifts in the timeline, don’t kill historical monsters, you’re the last line of defense, how to cope with watching your friends and family die over and over, depression tips and tricks, here’s when the world ends, coping with seeing your inevitable death, blah, blah, blah. I mean, I got through a lot of it, but there were at least three other sections to go through, some cinema scenes, a tutorial boss battle, but I’ve got the basics. I’ll catch that part later. I guess.”

Marinette stared. “What?”

Juleka blinked. “Boss battle?”

Alix shrugged. “Something to do with the manifestation of the God of anti-time? I dunno, I was tuning out by that point.”

Marinette stood and sputtered. “Alix, you… You can’t just… Do I need to go back in there with you?”

“It’s cool, it’s cool. There was a save point.” Alix sipped her soda. “Geez, Mars. I know how these things work. I just had to find a free slot.” She glanced off to the side. “There were a lot of save files in there.”

Juleka nodded. “Okay, alright. Cool. So, you figured out how to get me home?”

Alix cringed a bit. “Soooo, yeah. On that. I actually did research that and I hit a bit of an issue. I can’t tell if you’re from a divergent timeline or a straight-up alternate reality, but based on the quantum field around you, I’m leaning towards the latter.”

“Quantum field?” Marinette asked.

Alix nodded. “Yeah. When I’m transformed, I can see it. Ours is this light blue, while hers is green.”

“What’s the difference?” Juleka asked.

Alilx blinked. “Well, green is like blue, but with some yellow tinting? Are you colorblind? I’m not sure how to explain color to someone who’s colorblind. No offense.”

“I meant with the timelines!” Juleka snapped.

“Ah,” Alix said as she took her umbrella off her back and started drawing in the air. A glowing white line appeared as she did, much like chalk on a board. “I’m the Bunnyx of this timeline, which means that any and all divergences along my timeline are open for me to mess with.”

“Mess with?” Marinette asked. She raised an eyebrow.

“Fix,” Alix quickly said. “Potato, potahto, really. There’s infinite branching paths, but they all come from a central river, a current that powers them.” She traced what looked like a tree in the air with many branches. “That’s this overall reality. You aren’t in any of them, though.” She scribbled the tree out and looked to Juleka. “It’s like you hopped over from a completely different continuity. Once that exists 100% outside the influence of this one, but otherwise is really, really close.”

“I don’t follow,” Juleka said, frustrated.

“Best I can tell? You’re not from this dimension. At all.” Alix said. She drew a frowny face in the air. “Like, unless I missed something. It’s my first week.”

“You mean day,” Marinette corrected her.

Alix glanced at Marinette. “I was in there a while, Mars. The tutorial was three hours long. You think I’m gonna sit there and learn about my friends dying for three hours straight? I had to take some breaks and have some panic attacks. So, yeah. Back on track. Dimensional hopping is apparently more of a Frog miraculous thing. Hey Mars, did you know there’s a frog?”

Marinette nodded. “I read the book. I couldn’t tell you where he is, though. Do we need him?”

Alix shook her head. “Nah. Besides, according to Fluff, Hopper is a total asshole. We can get by with Kaalki.

Marinette blinked. “For real? Huh. Okay then.” She turned and rooted in her closet as Juleka stared at the tiny hero in front of her.

“So, there’s lots of heroes?”

“Dude,” Alix said, grinning. “There’s more than you’ve ever dreamed.”

“Found it!” Marinette said as she popped back up with a pair of glasses. Beside her was a tiny and rather perturbed yet fabulous looking flying horse.

Quick aside, I dare you to find that description outside of any MLP-related fanfiction. Go on. I’ll wait.

Sorry. Back to the story.

“Why am I awake at this hour?” Kaalki asked. She shot a withering glare at everyone present. “You’re all far too common for my tastes. No offense, master.”

“You’re fine, Kaalki,” Marinette said.

“Here, hand ‘em over,” Alix said as she reached for the glasses.

“Alix, I don’t know. You’re new, and I don’t want to…”

“Oh, for God’s sake!” Alix grabbed the glasses and slipped them on. “Fluff! Kaalki! Unify!”

There was a greenish flash. When it died down, Marinette and Juleka saw Alix in a black tuxedo jacket with a blue vest, white pants and shoes, a blue cummerbund, a green bow tie, and a black top hat. She had a black umbrella that she was leaning on. Her eyes were covered by a pair of sunglasses, and she was grinning like an idiot.

“Damn,” Juleka said, impressed.

Alix kicked her umbrella, twirled it, and placed it on her shoulder. “Sup?” She asked. “I’m now the motherfuckin’ Time Bandit. Oh. You’d better change, other-Jules. There was something in the tutorial about you having a higher chance of dying while dimension hopping if you’re not changed.”

Juleka swallowed. “Plagg, claws out.”

One flash of light later, and Panthera Noire was ready to go.

“Hey,” Marinette said to her. She put her hand on Juleka’s arm. “Just so you know? I believe in you, okay? You’re good at this, Panthera.”

Juleka’s face wavered for a moment, but then she grinned. She reached out to move a lock of Marinette’s hair back over her ear before she leaned in and kissed the corner of her mouth.

“Of course I am, darling. I’m Panthera Noire.”

Marinette blushed and stuttered as Panthera winked. She turned to Alix. “Lead the way, you tiny, weird bitch.”

Alix grinned.

***

No sooner than the portal had closed, Panthera dropped the ‘I’m Awesome’ act and went straight to Ladybug. She cupped her face and gently turned the hero’s head from side to side.

“Are you okay? Did she hurt you?” Panthera’s eyes were huge with worry. It took Ladybug slightly aback.

“What are you talking about?” Ladybug asked. She reached up for Panthera’s hands and brought them down, but she didn’t let them go. “You okay, Panthera?”

Juleka looked all over Ladybug’s face and gave a small nod. “Yeah, I just… That akuma did a serious number on you. I was worried.”

“You don’t have to worry about me,” Ladybug said. She squeezed Panthera’s hands. “I’m fine, and besides, I got help from I guess another version of you? She was nice. She reminded me a lot of you.”

“Of course I have to worry about you!” Juleka snapped. “You’re my partner.” She swallowed and looked away. “And you’re my friend. And I care about you. And, and I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Ladybug fought back the urge to gush. Instead, she squeezed Panthera’s hands again and said, “Well then, partner? I guess I’ll just have to be more careful next time, okay?”

Juleka nodded and smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Ladybug nodded to the rail. “Look, I know you probably wanna get home, what with being gone all day and all, but, um, there’s pizza? And a coffee? Granted, the other you drank a little, but she was technically you, so I don’t know if that’s gross or not? What are the rules on interdimensional backwash?”

“Pizza sounds good,” Panthera cut her off. She sat down and took a slice out as Ladybug sat down beside her.

“So,” Ladybug asked. “How was your day?”

Panthera took a bite of pizza. “I fought Godzilla.”

Ladybug snorted. “Seriously. How bad was it?”

Panthera paused and glanced over at Ladybug. “I fought Godzilla.”

Ladybug blinked. “For real?”

Panthera nodded.

“Oh,” Ladybug said to herself. “Wow. That sounds a bit intense.”

Panthera nodded. “Yeah that timeline can go fuck itself. Except for the part where the girl I like was fighting beside me dressed as a dominatrix.”

“Seriously?” Ladybug asked.

Panthera nodded. “That part was pretty fucking rad, at least. I wish I could have said goodbye to her. Oh, and we totally made out. Goals.” She looked over at Ladybug. “What did you do?”

Ladybug shrugged. “I stopped a meteor from wiping out Paris with the help of the other you.”

Panthera glanced at Ladybug. “So, busy day?”

Ladybug took a bite of pizza. “Busy day.”

The two sat and ate, and just enjoyed the fact that for a few minutes, nothing was trying to kill them, or blow up, or destroy the city.

Instead, they just sat, and ate, and talked. And as they did, Juleka looked over at her partner and thought, _‘Eh, I guess today was an okay day.’_

“Hey, Panthera?” Ladybug asked.

“Yeah, partner?”

“…How _did_ you know about Chloé?”

 _‘…Fuck.’_ Juleka thought.

***

Later that evening, after Juleka had made her way to the barge and hugged her brother (who was extremely happy to see her home), Juleka was getting ready to crash out for the night when she remembered what the other her had said about her diary.

Curious, Juleka slid open her desk drawer and took out the beat-up old book. She flipped to the last entry and looked. Sure enough, there was something written in her handwriting that she didn’t remember ever putting in there.

_Hey,_

_Sorry about this. Like, I know this is completely off-limits to everyone but you, but I had a couple hours and found your letters, and I figured you needed to hear this. Also, this isn’t a violation of privacy as I’m you, so suck it up this one time._

_Look, I noticed that I’m a couple years older than you probably are, so I figured I’d give you a head’s up. Things are gonna get intense. You’re going to meet new heroes, go on new adventures, and, like…_

_You’re going to have a lot of those bad, quiet moments, too, like when mom and Luka aren’t around. It’ll feel hard and cold and lonely when it’s just you, but you’ve got friends. Rose is everything, Marinette is incredible, Alya has your back, and Alix, Mylène, all of them love you. They really do. Hell, even Chlo_ _é isn’t all that bad in small doses. But all that doesn’t change the fact that sometimes it will be just you,_ _and you’ll have to make some tough decisions, and you’re going to feel like the world is on your shoulders. And I’m not gonna lie- it fucking sucks. Remember that you’re a hero, just like Ladybug. More than that, you’re a Couffaine, and that means you never give up. You’re loved by your friends and family. Mom and Luka love you so much. And you deserve to be loved, too. You do. This was the hardest thing for me to come to terms with, but it’s true. You are loved, and you will be loved. They will love you for who you are. _

_I know they will, because I was where you are, and I was scared, too._

_I wasn’t sure if I should share this part, because I don’t wanna mess up the timeline or anything, but hey, why the fuck not?_

_I can’t tell you how much courage it took to walk into the living room with her hand in mine and tell them, but you know what? All they did was ask if she was staying for dinner. No shit. Mom even hugged her. You’ve been beating yourself up for nothing._

_So that’s how I know. When you finally work up the courage? She’ll say yes. I promise you. She’ll say yes._

_Also? Your Luka is fantastic. We have the best big brother in the multiverse._

_Take care, Panthera._

_-Juleka (Dame de Sang)_

_P.S. Luka showed me the photos from your photoshoot and fuck you. You look amazing! You’re gonna be a knockout, you lucky bitch._

Juleka smiled as she gently put the diary back in her drawer. She took a deep breath and fought back the emotions that were threatening to overwhelm her as the words played in her mind.

“Thank you,” she whispered to no one in particular.

She wiped at her eyes and looked up at herself in the mirror above her desk. As she did, she reached up and moved her hair out of her eyes.

“You did good, me. And you’re going to be alright.”

Plagg floated up beside her and nibbled on some cheese. “You look like a freaking dork.”

“Shut it,” Juleka said, still smiling.

***

And back in the other dimension…

“Alix, give me back Kaalki.” Marinette had long since lost whatever iota of patience she had left in her and was ready to throw hands with the tiny time traveler.

“But I look so good!” Alix whined. She spun for effect. “Seriously! Time Bandit in the fuckin’ time house, yo!”

“Alix!” Marinette snapped.

"But this is a baller suit! Please, Mars? Just let me keep it for one day. Please?”

“Alix, now!” Marinette yelled.

Alix sighed. “Fine, fine, geez. Um, Kaalki, Fluff, divide. Here.” She pulled the glasses off as her powers split, leaving her as Bunnyx. She glanced at herself. “Meh, it’s not the same. It’s just not the same.”

“You’ll live,” Marinette said. She turned to Juleka, who had by now detransformed. The purple haired girl handed Marinette back Tikki, who quickly snuggled her master. “Are you okay? Did anything bad happen to you? I am so, so sorry that you got roped into things, Jules.”

Juleka waved her off. “I’m fine. Honestly, it was… Kind of nice? I mean, aside from the meteor.” She looked to the two girls. “What did I miss?”

“Only the best monster fight of the week.” Alix held up her phone and played a video from the Ladyblog.

Juleka watched, wide-eyed. “Holy shit, are you kidding me? I could have fought Godzilla?” She stared. “Why is he pink?”

“That was the biggest thing today,” Marinette said. “Aside from the akuma you helped with. I’m just so relieved that you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, Marinette. Don’t you worry. But…” Juleka slipped out her phone to check for messages. “I do have a standing date I need to get to, and, um, some things I need to talk to Rose about.”

Marinette nodded. She then hugged Juleka. “Hey, you need anything? Ever? Let me know, okay? You’re my friend, Jules. I love you.”

Juleka hugged her back. “Love you too, partner.”

She pulled back and winked at Marinette, who was now blushing slightly.

If Juleka noticed, she was kind enough to not mention it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> I had originally done this story thinking I could have had Panthera team up with Gina from my series, but then this idea popped into my head, and it gave me the chance to play with both worlds, so I took it. I'm sure there were other avenues we could have gone down, but this worked for me.
> 
> Again, a huge thank you to SorryJustAnotherPerson for graciously lending me their creation for a story. Go read their work if you haven't. It's awesome.
> 
> If you want more Panthera, go read the Adventures of Panthera Noire.
> 
> If you want more of the other world, the entire AU starts with What To Do When Your Students Are Superheroes.
> 
> Let me know what you thought of this crossover, and again, thank you for reading!


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